1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fixing element, comprised essentially of a head and a shaft, embodied preferably as a nail or screw.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nails or screws are known in a plurality of embodiments for different uses alone or in combination with the use of plastic anchors.
In DE 38 34 285 A1 a screw hook is described comprising a shaft m provided with a thread and a head provided with a hook part, wherein the tool profile provided at the end face within the head, for example, a cross recess, is centrally symmetrically arranged to the shaft axis. With this configuration of the screw hook, the screw tightening, in particular, is solved in a beneficial way for the workman.
Moreover, screws are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,077, comprising differently configured screw heads or caps that can be placed onto the screw heads so that the screws can be used for different applications.
For a simple attachment of pictures in picture frames on a wall it is possible to employ, for example, conventional wire nails with a round shaft and a flat head, optionally in connection with plastic anchors. If, because of a special hardness of the wall, it appears to be necessary, two bore holes are then usually provided, as is known in the art, at a spacing to one another into which suitable plastic anchors are then introduced and into which, in turn, the fixing elements are inserted from which the picture frame is suspended.
In this connection, the exact horizontal alignment of the two fixing elements may be a problem, or, when attaching the picture frame it is found that a readjustment is required because the fixing elements or bores, despite prior measuring, are not exactly horizontally aligned with one another.
More often than not this readjustment is carried out by bending the fixing elements, or it is necessary to measure anew, drill, and attach a new fixing element at a different location.
For avoiding these disadvantages, in DE 43 37 927 A1 a fastening and adjusting member is described comprising a cylindrical adjusting and support member wherein the fastening screw providing an axis of rotation is guided through the eccentric bore of the adjusting and support member. By means of an adjusting disc arranged at an end face of the adjusting and support member, the rotation of the adjusting screw of the adjusting and support member k is then adjustable in regard to its height position. A disadvantage of this known fastening and adjusting member is its two-part configuration which makes it necessary to tighten the fastening screw up to its end, respectively, because otherwise the adjusting and support member cannot be secured in the desired position.
Moreover, from FR-A-494055 a fastening means with a saddle-shaped screw or nail head is known, provided with an upper slot from which a string can be suspended. By rotating the fastening means about a certain angle, this suspended string can be adjusted with regard to its height position.
Based on this prior art, it is an object of the invention to significantly improve a fixing element of the aforementioned kind and to configure it with simple means such that a problem-free manufacture as well as a mounting and adjustment or realignment as simple as possible is achieved for a uniform alignment of the fixing elements relative to one another in one plane, without this requiring high demands in regard to the tolerance precision of the elements interacting with one another.
The solution to this object is achieved with the invention in that the head of the fixing element is a one-part configuration comprised of an upper head part and a lower head part and provided by means of axial rotation with a variable stroke, wherein the lower head part is embodied as an eccentric and the upper head part is matched with a slightly projecting rim to the cross-sectional shape, whereby in a simple way an adjustment or horizontal or angular alignment of the fixing elements, for example, by axial rotation can be achieved.